Review

Review Summary: Sleigh Bells hold on to their traditional sound, but throw some obvious improvements into the mix.

Claiming to be the loudest band in the world, the duo of Alexis Krauss and Derek Miller of the band Sleigh Bell have crafted their sophomore album entitled ‘Reign of Terror’ set to drop on February 22.

If you know anything about Sleigh Bells, you know that they are a very minimalistic band, just a simple beat, Krauss’ poppy vocals, layered with a harsh, melodic, yet raging guitar riff composed by Miller, creating a very unique style of brutally beautiful songs.

‘Reign of Terror’ is exactly that. The lead single, “Born to Lose” opens with a vigorous drumming pattern and the signature guitar riff that would rattle any speakers. All of this of course, topped with Krauss’ repetitive and sweet vocals singing, “Where did you go? You where born to lose,” creating a dynamic parallel between vocals and music.

One of the albums best moments comes with the teenage anthem, “Crush,” utilizing the sounds of stomping and clapping to create a very stadium rocking sound and has the albums most catchy chorus.

Unlike the bands debut album, ‘Treats,’ this new effort does throw a bit of a curve ball into the game. Songs like “End Of The Line” and “Road To Hell” are much more mellow affairs. Using the term mellow loosely though, for while they are slower tracks with more emphasis on vocals than the massive guitar riff is still forever present, though never feels out of place. Although this slight change in their normal sound may come as a surprise to fans of the bands traditional sound.

All of these more Sleigh Bells-mellow moments are dueled with their signature hardness though, with tracks like “Comeback Kid” and “Demons” being some of the roughest, loudest tracks the band have ever recorded. The later of which using has Krauss shouting viciously over an almost “Iron Man”-like guitar riff.

Throughout the entire album Sleigh Bells proves one main concept, they are not just a flash in the pan. They are a band that is here to stay and have just the right mixture of loudness to never let you forget it.

I get what you mean by it, but is it right to call this band minimalistic? They don't have a lot of sources for sound (like you said, guitar vox and simple drums), but the way they're used is so far from minimalistic IMO.

Treats had some low lows (The songs weren't exactly bad but man there were some songs that I just skipped every time) and some high highs. This is a more consistent record and I want to like it even more than I do, but some songs just aren't to exciting. Comeback kid however is fucking fantastic though, love that song.